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Cowgirl Tennis Looks to Reload for 2026 Season
- Ross Volkmer
- 14 hours ago
- 2 min read
PHOTO CREDIT: Jackie Elliott
GOODLAND, Kan. — The Goodland Cowgirls enter the 2026 tennis season with plenty of new faces while looking to build on last year’s GWAC championship.
Eighth-year head coach Ali Hollern must replace six seniors from last year’s team, but Goodland has welcomed seven newcomers to the program. The Cowgirls have approximately 11 to 12 players out this fall after entering the season with the possibility of much smaller numbers.
Senior Reagan James said the influx of younger players has brought new energy to the program.
“These are the highest numbers we’ve had in a minute,” James said. “It’s really cool to see people willing to come out and try something new.”
James and sophomore Ella Linn are expected to lead Goodland’s varsity lineup as singles players. Both spent time working on their games during the summer rather than waiting until the start of fall practice to pick up a racket.
Hollern believes that offseason work could pay dividends as both pursue their goal of reaching the state tournament.
“Reagan’s very calm, cool, collected, consistent,” Hollern said. “Ella’s a little more aggressive, hits a little bit harder. They play very differently, but they’ve worked really hard.”
Behind James and Linn, Goodland will look for contributions from several developing players. Elly Evert, Brenly Zimmerman, Collins Smades and Brooklyn Kennedy were among the names mentioned as potential contributors this fall.
Hollern said finding the right doubles combinations will be important as the Cowgirls try to create a balanced varsity lineup around their two returning singles players.
Goodland enters the season as the defending GWAC champion after capturing the league title through a complete team effort last fall.
“Everybody played their role and everybody gave us points to win that title,” Hollern said. “It was a total team effort.”
While this year’s lineup will be younger, Hollern hopes the Cowgirls can remain competitive in the GWAC while developing a group of newcomers for the future.
James and Linn have their sights set even higher individually, with both hoping to make a run at qualifying for the Class 3A state tournament. Both have already captured medals this season by placing at the Wakeeney Invitational earlier this week.
Cowgirl tennis is back in action on September 5th at the Colby Invitational.
Senior Reagan James & Sophomore Ella Linn:
Head Coach Ali Hollern:
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